Complete Plays, The

by William Shakespeare

  Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive

  Against thy mother aught: leave her to heaven

  And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge,

  To prick and sting her. Fare thee well at once!

  The glow-worm shows the matin to be near,

  And ’gins to pale his uneffectual fire:

  Adieu, adieu! Hamlet, remember me.

  Exit

  Hamlet

  O all you host of heaven! O earth! what else?

  And shall I couple hell? O, fie! Hold, hold, my heart;

  And you, my sinews, grow not instant old,

  But bear me stiffly up. Remember thee!

  Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat

  In this distracted globe. Remember thee!

  Yea, from the table of my memory

  I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records,

  All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past,

  That youth and observation copied there;

  And thy commandment all alone shall live

  Within the book and volume of my brain,

  Unmix’d with baser matter: yes, by heaven!

  O most pernicious woman!

  O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!

  My tables,— meet it is I set it down,

  That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain;

  At least I’m sure it may be so in Denmark:

  Writing

  So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word;

  It is ‘Adieu, adieu! remember me.’

  I have sworn ’t.

  Marcellus

  Horatio

  [Within] My lord, my lord,—

  Marcellus

  [Within] Lord Hamlet,—

  Horatio

  [Within] Heaven secure him!

  Hamlet

  So be it!

  Horatio

  [Within] Hillo, ho, ho, my lord!

  Hamlet

  Hillo, ho, ho, boy! come, bird, come.

  Enter Horatio and Marcellus

  Marcellus

  How is’t, my noble lord?

  Horatio

  What news, my lord?

  Hamlet

  O, wonderful!

  Horatio

  Good my lord, tell it.

  Hamlet

  No; you’ll reveal it.

  Horatio

  Not I, my lord, by heaven.

  Marcellus

  Nor I, my lord.

  Hamlet

  How say you, then; would heart of man once think it?

  But you’ll be secret?

  Horatio

  Marcellus

  Ay, by heaven, my lord.

  Hamlet

  There’s ne’er a villain dwelling in all Denmark

  But he’s an arrant knave.

  Horatio

  There needs no ghost, my lord, come from the grave

  To tell us this.

  Hamlet

  Why, right; you are i’ the right;

  And so, without more circumstance at all,

  I hold it fit that we shake hands and part:

  You, as your business and desire shall point you;

  For every man has business and desire,

  Such as it is; and for mine own poor part,

  Look you, I’ll go pray.

  Horatio

  These are but wild and whirling words, my lord.

  Hamlet

  I’m sorry they offend you, heartily;

  Yes, ’faith heartily.

  Horatio

  There’s no offence, my lord.

  Hamlet

  Yes, by Saint Patrick, but there is, Horatio,

  And much offence too. Touching this vision here,

  It is an honest ghost, that let me tell you:

  For your desire to know what is between us,

  O’ermaster ’t as you may. And now, good friends,

  As you are friends, scholars and soldiers,

  Give me one poor request.

  Horatio

  What is’t, my lord? we will.

  Hamlet

  Never make known what you have seen to-night.

  Horatio

  Marcellus

  My lord, we will not.

  Hamlet

  Nay, but swear’t.

  Horatio

  In faith,

  My lord, not I.

  Marcellus

  Nor I, my lord, in faith.

  Hamlet

  Upon my sword.

  Marcellus

  We have sworn, my lord, already.

  Hamlet

  Indeed, upon my sword, indeed.

  Ghost

  [Beneath] Swear.

  Hamlet

  Ah, ha, boy! say’st thou so? art thou there, truepenny?

  Come on — you hear this fellow in the cellarage —

  Consent to swear.

  Horatio

  Propose the oath, my lord.

  Hamlet

  Never to speak of this that you have seen,

  Swear by my sword.

  Ghost

  [Beneath] Swear.

  Hamlet

  Hic et ubique? then we’ll shift our ground.

  Come hither, gentlemen,

  And lay your hands again upon my sword:

  Never to speak of this that you have heard,

  Swear by my sword.

  Ghost

  [Beneath] Swear.

  Hamlet

  Well said, old mole! canst work i’ the earth so fast?

  A worthy pioner! Once more remove, good friends.

  Horatio

  O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!

  Hamlet

  And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.

  There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

  Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. But come;

  Here, as before, never, so help you mercy,

  How strange or odd soe’er I bear myself,

  As I perchance hereafter shall think meet

  To put an antic disposition on,

  That you, at such times seeing me, never shall,

  With arms encumber’d thus, or this headshake,

  Or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase,

  As ‘Well, well, we know,’ or ‘We could, an if we would,’

  Or ‘If we list to speak,’ or ‘There be, an if they might,’

  Or such ambiguous giving out, to note

  That you know aught of me: this not to do,

  So grace and mercy at your most need help you, Swear.

  Ghost

  [Beneath] Swear.

  Hamlet

  Rest, rest, perturbed spirit!

  They swear

  So, gentlemen,

  With all my love I do commend me to you:

  And what so poor a man as Hamlet is

  May do, to express his love and friending to you,

  God willing, shall not lack. Let us go in together;

  And still your fingers on your lips, I pray.

  The time is out of joint: O cursed spite,

  That ever I was born to set it right!

  Nay, come, let’s go together.

  Exeunt

  ACT II

  SCENE I. A ROOM IN POLONIUS’ HOUSE.

  Enter Polonius and Reynaldo

  Lord Polonius

  Give him this money and these notes, Reynaldo.

  Reynaldo

  I will, my lord.

  Lord Polonius

  You shall do marvellous wisely, good Reynaldo,

  Before you visit him, to make inquire

  Of his behavior.

  Reynaldo

  My lord, I did intend it.

  Lord Polonius

  Marry, well said; very well said. Look you, sir,

  Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris;

  And how, and who, what means, and where they keep,

  What company, at what expense; and finding

  By this encompassment and drift of
question

  That they do know my son, come you more nearer

  Than your particular demands will touch it:

  Take you, as ’twere, some distant knowledge of him;

  As thus, ‘I know his father and his friends,

  And in part him: ’ do you mark this, Reynaldo?

  Reynaldo

  Ay, very well, my lord.

  Lord Polonius

  ‘And in part him; but’ you may say ‘not well:

  But, if’t be he I mean, he’s very wild;

  Addicted so and so:’ and there put on him

  What forgeries you please; marry, none so rank

  As may dishonour him; take heed of that;

  But, sir, such wanton, wild and usual slips

  As are companions noted and most known

  To youth and liberty.

  Reynaldo

  As gaming, my lord.

  Lord Polonius

  Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing, quarrelling,

  Drabbing: you may go so far.

  Reynaldo

  My lord, that would dishonour him.

  Lord Polonius

  ’Faith, no; as you may season it in the charge

  You must not put another scandal on him,

  That he is open to incontinency;

  That’s not my meaning: but breathe his faults so quaintly

  That they may seem the taints of liberty,

  The flash and outbreak of a fiery mind,

  A savageness in unreclaimed blood,

  Of general assault.

  Reynaldo

  But, my good lord,—

  Lord Polonius

  Wherefore should you do this?

  Reynaldo

  Ay, my lord,

  I would know that.

  Lord Polonius

  Marry, sir, here’s my drift;

  And I believe, it is a fetch of wit:

  You laying these slight sullies on my son,

  As ’twere a thing a little soil’d i’ the working, Mark you,

  Your party in converse, him you would sound,

  Having ever seen in the prenominate crimes

  The youth you breathe of guilty, be assured

  He closes with you in this consequence;

  ‘Good sir,’ or so, or ‘friend,’ or ‘gentleman,’

  According to the phrase or the addition

  Of man and country.

  Reynaldo

  Very good, my lord.

  Lord Polonius

  And then, sir, does he this — he does — what was I about to say? By the mass, I was about to say something: where did I leave?

  Reynaldo

  At ‘closes in the consequence,’ at ‘friend or so,’ and ‘gentleman.’

  Lord Polonius

  At ‘closes in the consequence,’ ay, marry;

  He closes thus: ‘I know the gentleman;

  I saw him yesterday, or t’ other day,

  Or then, or then; with such, or such; and, as you say,

  There was a’ gaming; there o’ertook in’s rouse;

  There falling out at tennis:’ or perchance,

  ‘I saw him enter such a house of sale,’

  Videlicet, a brothel, or so forth.

  See you now;

  Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth:

  And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,

  With windlasses and with assays of bias,

  By indirections find directions out:

  So by my former lecture and advice,

  Shall you my son. You have me, have you not?

  Reynaldo

  My lord, I have.

  Lord Polonius

  God be wi’ you; fare you well.

  Reynaldo

  Good my lord!

  Lord Polonius

  Observe his inclination in yourself.

  Reynaldo

  I shall, my lord.

  Lord Polonius

  And let him ply his music.

  Reynaldo

  Well, my lord.

  Lord Polonius

  Farewell!

  Exit Reynaldo

  Enter Ophelia

  How now, Ophelia! what’s the matter?

  Ophelia

  O, my lord, my lord, I have been so affrighted!

  Lord Polonius

  With what, i’ the name of God?

  Ophelia

  My lord, as I was sewing in my closet,

  Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbraced;

  No hat upon his head; his stockings foul’d,

  Ungarter’d, and down-gyved to his ancle;

  Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other;

  And with a look so piteous in purport

  As if he had been loosed out of hell

  To speak of horrors,— he comes before me.

  Lord Polonius

  Mad for thy love?

  Ophelia

  My lord, I do not know;

  But truly, I do fear it.

  Lord Polonius

  What said he?

  Ophelia

  He took me by the wrist and held me hard;

  Then goes he to the length of all his arm;

  And, with his other hand thus o’er his brow,

  He falls to such perusal of my face

  As he would draw it. Long stay’d he so;

  At last, a little shaking of mine arm

  And thrice his head thus waving up and down,

  He raised a sigh so piteous and profound

  As it did seem to shatter all his bulk

  And end his being: that done, he lets me go:

  And, with his head over his shoulder turn’d,

  He seem’d to find his way without his eyes;

  For out o’ doors he went without their helps,

  And, to the last, bended their light on me.

  Lord Polonius

  Come, go with me: I will go seek the king.

  This is the very ecstasy of love,

  Whose violent property fordoes itself

  And leads the will to desperate undertakings

  As oft as any passion under heaven

  That does afflict our natures. I am sorry.

  What, have you given him any hard words of late?

  Ophelia

  No, my good lord, but, as you did command,

  I did repel his fetters and denied

  His access to me.

  Lord Polonius

  That hath made him mad.

  I am sorry that with better heed and judgment

  I had not quoted him: I fear’d he did but trifle,

  And meant to wreck thee; but, beshrew my jealousy!

  By heaven, it is as proper to our age

  To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions

  As it is common for the younger sort

  To lack discretion. Come, go we to the king:

  This must be known; which, being kept close, might move

  More grief to hide than hate to utter love.

  Exeunt

  SCENE II. A ROOM IN THE CASTLE.

  Enter King Claudius, Queen Gertrude, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Attendants

  King Claudius

  Welcome, dear Rosencrantz and Guildenstern!

  Moreover that we much did long to see you,

  The need we have to use you did provoke

  Our hasty sending. Something have you heard

  Of Hamlet’s transformation; so call it,

  Sith nor the exterior nor the inward man

  Resembles that it was. What it should be,

  More than his father’s death, that thus hath put him

  So much from the understanding of himself,

  I cannot dream of: I entreat you both,

  That, being of so young days brought up with him,

  And sith so neighbour’d to his youth and havior,

  That you vouchsafe your rest here in our court

  Some little time: so by your companies

  To draw him on to pleasures, and to gather,
/>
  So much as from occasion you may glean,

  Whether aught, to us unknown, afflicts him thus,

  That, open’d, lies within our remedy.

  Queen Gertrude

  Good gentlemen, he hath much talk’d of you;

  And sure I am two men there are not living

  To whom he more adheres. If it will please you

  To show us so much gentry and good will

  As to expend your time with us awhile,

  For the supply and profit of our hope,

  Your visitation shall receive such thanks

  As fits a king’s remembrance.

  Rosencrantz

  Both your majesties

  Might, by the sovereign power you have of us,

  Put your dread pleasures more into command

  Than to entreaty.

  Guildenstern

  But we both obey,

  And here give up ourselves, in the full bent

  To lay our service freely at your feet,

  To be commanded.

  King Claudius

  Thanks, Rosencrantz and gentle Guildenstern.

  Queen Gertrude

  Thanks, Guildenstern and gentle Rosencrantz:

  And I beseech you instantly to visit

  My too much changed son. Go, some of you,

  And bring these gentlemen where Hamlet is.

  Guildenstern

  Heavens make our presence and our practises

  Pleasant and helpful to him!

  Queen Gertrude

  Ay, amen!

  Exeunt Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and some Attendants

  Enter Polonius

  Lord Polonius

  The ambassadors from Norway, my good lord,

  Are joyfully return’d.

  King Claudius

  Thou still hast been the father of good news.

  Lord Polonius

  Have I, my lord? I assure my good liege,

  I hold my duty, as I hold my soul,

  Both to my God and to my gracious king:

  And I do think, or else this brain of mine

  Hunts not the trail of policy so sure

  As it hath used to do, that I have found

  The very cause of Hamlet’s lunacy.

  King Claudius

  O, speak of that; that do I long to hear.

  Lord Polonius

  Give first admittance to the ambassadors;

  My news shall be the fruit to that great feast.

  King Claudius

  Thyself do grace to them, and bring them in.

  Exit Polonius

  He tells me, my dear Gertrude, he hath found

  The head and source of all your son’s distemper.

  Queen Gertrude

  I doubt it is no other but the main;

  His father’s death, and our o’erhasty marriage.

  King Claudius

  Well, we shall sift him.

  Re-enter Polonius, with Voltimand and Cornelius

  Welcome, my good friends!

  Say, Voltimand, what from our brother Norway?

  Voltimand

  Most fair return of greetings and desires.

  Upon our first, he sent out to suppress